The Malt Lounge and Bar at The Prince Akatoki London hotel transforms seamlessly from a Japanese tea room during the day, to a whisky bar at night. We designed this adaptability into the space by concentrating on the flexibility of display options, that would allow the theatre of both a tea ceremony and a working bar to take place.
The space hosts an array of Japanese whiskies that are concealed during the day and effortlessly slide into position in front of the Georgian windows, to present an illuminated display of whisky bottles in the evening.
Lit with seductive minimal wall lights is a material curation of dark stone, bronze countertops and traditional prayer panels.
The choice of material hues reflects both tea and whisky.
Crafted furniture with deep timber tones were chosen for their robustness and comfort.
Modern clean-lined teapots with rustic details and minimal cups on timber trays are used to serve tea.
In the evening, the whisky is served in an array of organically shaped glasses that are chosen to complement the patron’s choice of whisky. The Malt Lounge and Bar serves rare whiskies, and also has a built-in display for guests to leave their whiskies to come back to.
'When we rebranded from a British hotel to a Japanese hotel, the task we put to the team at B3 was monumental. The brief we gave them was to encapsulate the attention to detail as found in Japanese culture and bring that into the hotel. From day one our expectations were quite significantly exceeded. Each team member at B3, led by Mark, are not only fantastic designers but artists in the field of creating an ambience that fits the ideas we had on paper. Thank you, Mark and team!'
Ray Goertz - General Manager, The Prince Akatoki Hotel